Mobilizing social capital to deal with child labour in cocoa production: The case of community child labour monitoring system in Ghana

The Government of Ghana is leading the implementation of Community Child Labour Monitoring (CCLM) System as remediation and monitoring tool to free cocoa production from the worst forms of child labour and trafficking. Through a mixed-method approach which combines exploratory qualitative and quantitative methods, this paper sought to understand how CCLM operates and its ability to mobilize or generate social capital to deal with worst forms of child labour. It also ascertained the emerging household labour re-arrangement to facilitate a more sustainable change in cocoa production systems. The results indicate that the CCLM as a voluntary social auditing system is working in the community where members hold themselves accountable for the welfare of children. Task distribution was developmentally determined and tasks considered appropriate for children are based on their body and psychosomatic maturity and not only on the age of the child. Again the study asserts that the willingness of children to support parents even at the expense of school suggests that child labour is family embedded and that children should not only be targeted for separation from work but should be offered appropriate avenue to nurture their skills through cultural-legally acceptable work frame.